The formation of small-scale forestry in countries with economies in transition: Observations from Lithuania

Lithuania has been undergoing a transition from one political culture (based on a centrally planned economy and a one-party system) to a radically different political culture (market economy and a democratic political system). After the declaration of independence in Lithuania, some new phenomena emerged in forestry: the privatisation of forest industry, the formation of a free timber market; increasing timber export levels; and new modes of ownership (private forests) and enterprise (private business logging companies). Private forest owners control approximately 680,000 ha of forest, 33% of the total forest area, projected to increase to 40–45% in the future. Small-scale private forestry is developing in Lithuania but there is a lack of information about the objectives and problems of private forest owners. This paper presents the main results of a survey carried out in 2004 by the Lithuanian Forest Research Institute. The most important forest ownership objectives are firewood production for home consumption, income generation from wood and non-wood product sales, and protection of nature and biodiversity. The main problems for private forest owners are that the forest properties are too small to achieve efficiency, owners lack money for silviculture activities and there is a heavy bureaucratic system for forest-related activity documentation. A cluster analysis of respondents’ ratings of importance for various forest management objectives reveals four groups of private forest owners. These groups are named according to their dominant management objective, as multi-objective owners, businessmen, consumers and ecologists.     

Needs of private forest owners in the context of changing political systems: Lithuania as a case study

During the first half of the 20^th century the Baltic States were independent democratic nations where private forest ownership was practiced. After annexation to the Soviet Union, individuals in the Baltic States lost their ownership rights and collective ownership was introduced. Currently, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, the land restitution process in the forest sector is coming to an end and the ownership pattern as well as tenure rights are settled. A survey was undertaken to investigate the current state of the private forest sector in general, and the needs and expectations of private forest owners (PFO). Results of the study indicated that for private forest owners their forests first of all provide aesthetic and environmental protection values. Lithuanian PFOs lack information of forests and forest management, face extensive bureaucracy and need help in protecting their forests from fires, diseases and timber thieves.